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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Tigerchips on August 28, 2015, 12:11:08 AM

Title: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: Tigerchips on August 28, 2015, 12:11:08 AM
Just wondering how old this fragment might be? There was a slight iridescence on it but when i wiped it with a soft cloth it vanished. The cut side is concave.  It has cut panels with a cut step pattern of some kind going the other way.

Title: Re: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: glassobsessed on August 28, 2015, 07:27:15 AM
Tough question!

How long does it take for iridescence to build up? The rate probably varies with conditions within the ground, including composition and levels of moisture. Where you found it may offer insight, was it mixed in with a lot of other artefacts, how deep was it and was the ground disturbed?

John

Title: Re: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: pamela on August 28, 2015, 07:48:40 AM
possibly a fragment of car/truck headlight?  :-\
Title: Re: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: Tigerchips on August 28, 2015, 07:56:51 AM
Tough question!

How long does it take for iridescence to build up? The rate probably varies with conditions within the ground, including composition and levels of moisture. Where you found it may offer insight, was it mixed in with a lot of other artefacts, how deep was it and was the ground disturbed?

John



It was found in woodland in Northumberland, near surface. My mom found a bronze Roman/Medieval ring on top of the soil nearby... https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/339599628129470022/
Title: Re: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: Tigerchips on August 28, 2015, 08:04:23 AM
possibly a fragment of car/truck headlight?  :-\

Ha ha, yeah, it does look like one of those, perhaps a motorbike since it's a good distance away from a road. Well done Pamela.
Title: Re: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: Paul S. on August 28, 2015, 12:04:58 PM
stuff the glass - I'm going out with your Mum - much better find. ;) ;)
Title: Re: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: glassobsessed on August 28, 2015, 07:17:55 PM
Presumably the ring was brought to the surface by some agency - animal perhaps? In general terms, the deeper under the surface something is the longer it has been there (unless of course it was placed in a hole and backfilled).

An awful lot of information can be gleaned by careful excavation using archaeological methods, that same information is likely to be lost by careless digging.
Title: Re: Cut Glass fragment found while Metal Detecting
Post by: Tigerchips on August 28, 2015, 11:55:02 PM
Clay type soil, so nothing goes too deep. Plus if it's on a hill everything goes down the hill in the end. Same thing happens on beaches, eventually it all ends up in the same place. You'll often see pottery shards and old broken bottles working there way out of a cliff edge.